What if Lionel Messi played for Manchester City? Of course, Messi is under contract at
Barcelona until 2022, not to mention very expensive, and Pep Guardiola has previously
expressed his reasons for not going after the man who made his Barca side tick – but,
hypothetically, what if he did? Well, to get an idea of how Guardiola might use Messi now,
it’s best to start by taking a look at their very real work together at Barcelona.
During Guardiola’s four-year spell as his coach, Messi truly hit his peak. It was at
this time that Guardiola re-popularised the false nine position, learning from Luca Spalletti’s
use of Francesco Totti at Roma a couple of years earlier.
A false nine is effectively a striker who drifts deeper, away from the defensive line
and from what would be considered a normal starting spot for the position. Strikers typically
lead the line and push into space *behind* the defence; a false nine looks to drop into
the space *in front* of the defence and then drive back towards it or, by sucking defenders
towards them, create space in behind for diagonal runs from other attackers – this is what
created the mesmeric quick passing interchanges in attack that were the hallmark of Guardiola’s
tenure. While Messi’s use as a false nine under
Guardiola attracted attention, not least because it was probably the first sustained use of
a striker in that way since Austria’s national side in the 30s and Hungary’s in the 50s,
Guardiola also deployed Messi in other roles. In fact, Guardiola’s willingness to experiment
with his use of Messi, and Messi’s ability to adapt to this, was a central pillar of
the 14 trophies the pair won together. Messi’s key abilities, his vision, dribbling and control,
his ability to create space and exploit it, and his selfless defensive work, meant that
he could effectively play wherever Guardiola wanted – as such, sometimes Messi’s use
said more about Barcelona’s other players, and their strengths and weaknesses, than it
did the Argentine player himself. In the course of Guardiola’s tenure, Messi
played as a right wing in the 4-3-3 formation that is so associated with Barcelona. He also
played as a central number 10 behind a striker in a sort of asymmetric 4-2-4 and, in Guardiola’s
final season, played as a false nine/ten in an updated version of the 3-4-3. Indeed, the
pure false nine role was really only a mainstay of Barca’s play in 2010/11 and the season
after, when the team shape was otherwise very different. Messi’s skills and his versatility
meant that as other players around him changed in terms of ability, physical attributes,
or even actual personnel, he could adapt and excel.
A few years later, under the tutelage of Ernesto Valverde, Messi’s adaptability has again
been highlighted, as he featured in a second striker role within Barcelona’s 4-4-2 system.
Valverde has sought to devise a set-up that can accommodate his overflow of attacking
talent and get the best out of them. By overloading the right half space with both Messi and whoever
played on the right hand side, Valverde aimed to manoeuvre his best talent into advanced
positions unmarked. He often uses Ivan Rakitic or Sergi Roberto on the right – they tuck
in, with right back Nelson Semedo overlapping. Messi can drop off into space behind Luis
Suarez and work with the right midfielder and Semedo to create passing triangles to
progress the ball. Valverde also uses a 4-3-3, with Messi playing
on the right but dropping much deeper than a normal right winger would, while Ousmane
Dembele pushes higher on the left – Messi can drift centrally and pull the strings,
or drive forwards, and crucially, this means he can influence play as a creative almost-midfielder
or as an almost-winger. Messi also works extremely hard in Valverde’s
defensive system, tenaciously defending and pressing in the right half space. Sometimes,
he can look almost laconic in the attacking phase, walking and drifting into space before
suddenly accelerating, while in defence, he closes and works hard to win back the ball.
Messi has been central to Barcelona for so long now that it’s easy to forget that his
ability really accelerated under Guardiola; it was the Catalan manager who coaxed out
of Messi his stellar talents and laid the foundations for him to become the world’s
most complete players. So, with their history together at Barcelona,
and their evolution as player and coach in the time since, how would Messi likely fit
into Guardiola’s current Manchester City setup?
City set up in a 4-3-3, a system that Messi is obviously used to. The natural spots for
him would be either at right wing, or centre forward, but dropping off. Here are two plausible
line-ups. There are some issues here, though. Notwithstanding
the fact that Messi is the world’s best footballer and could likely fit into any side,
and that he has also shown consistently impressive positional versatility in his career, neither
of these two roles is, in fact, a perfect fit for the Argentinian. Out wide, Guardiola
has favoured a greater degree of pace and width than Messi is currently used to. Raheem
Sterling and Leroy Sane, his best and first choice wide players, are exceptionally quick
and either hug the touch line to stretch the opposition before cutting infield at pace,
or drop off and in while a midfielder or full back moves out and past them, before hurtling
towards the gap inside. While Messi could do this, his career has
shown an increasing tendency to come inside, to dictate play, and his famously ambling
style, by which he finds space before accelerating rapidly, doesn’t fit the way Guardiola likes
his City wingers to play. Messi could, of course, replace Aguero as
the focal point of City’s attack – insofar as Guardiola’s positional play requires
a focal point. But again, there are a few concerns. Messi has shown that he works well
in tandem with a physical striker, as he did behind Zlatan Ibramhimovic in 2009/10, but
City could lose its most physically assertive, combative striker should Messi replace Aguero,
rather than play with him. Aguero does drop off intelligently and link play, but his bustling
presence attracts defensive attention and he’s excellent at playing the ball with
his back to the goal and a defender. Of course, Messi is capable of doing all this,
though Aguero is physically stronger and has been City’s most consistent goal scorer
since 2011; here the issue is more that Aguero is too good at what he does to leave out *if*
Messi could be accommodated elsewhere. And, due to Guardiola’s 4-3-3 being more
of a five and five split, he could. City’s 4-3-3 sees two effective units, with Fernandinho
dropping away to join the defensive four, with the full backs pushing up and in to create
a layer of defence. The two central midfielders push up and play off the wingers in the half
spaces, while the striker drops in or pushes up depending on the opposition defence.
The answer to where Messi would play, if he were ever to join Manchester City, was actually
clear in the recent derby against Manchester United. In that game, one City player found
many of the same spaces that Messi would, drifting into spots away from defensive attention
before bursting towards the opposition goal, carrying a threat with his ball control at
pace and his ability to create as well as provide a goal threat: Bernardo Silva, playing
the right central midfield inside forward role. Guardiola’s central midfielders are
in many ways like the inside forwards of the old 2-3-5 formation – pushing into the half
spaces, linking with the wide players and either pushing up and outside them, or pushing
more directly forwards past the striker or alongside them. This role would suit Messi
perfectly. Covered by the solid five of the defence plus Fernandinho, he could press but
without having to defend too much. He would link to devastating effect with the pace and
positional awareness of Sterling, feed Aguero, and play alongside David Silva, who is more
than a match for some of the midfielders Messi played with at Barca in Guardiola’s heyday.
Crucially, this position in a Guardiola team is about finding space to receive the ball
and link play, or drive forwards into an attacking position as a goal threat. It’s what Messi’s
been doing his whole career and he would fit seamlessly into Guardiola’s Manchester
City team in this spot.